Mairi Hedderwick facts for kids
Mairi Hedderwick (born May 2, 1939) is a Scottish artist and writer. She is famous for her "Katie Morag" children's picture books. These stories are set on the fictional Isle of Struay. This island is like the real Scottish island of Coll, where Mairi has lived a lot.
She has also written travel books for grown-ups. Plus, she draws pictures for stationery (like notebooks and calendars) about the Scottish islands.
Contents
Mairi Hedderwick's Early Life
Mairi Crawford Lindsay was born in Gourock, Scotland, on May 2, 1939. Her father was an architect. He passed away when Mairi was thirteen. Her grandfather was a Scottish missionary named Dan Crawford.
Mairi went to primary school in Gourock. Then she attended St Columba's School for Girls in Kilmacolm. She has said her childhood was "serious" and "lonely." She often felt out of place.
Instead, she dreamed of a fun, carefree life. This is the kind of life she would later show in her Katie Morag stories. She used to wish she could be "over the hills and far away."
Becoming an Artist and Moving to Coll
In 1957, Mairi went to Edinburgh College of Art. She studied mural painting and ceramics. While there, she saw an ad for a helper on the island of Coll.
She visited Coll for the first time that year. She then returned every summer during her student holidays.
After college, she married Ronnie Hedderwick in 1962. For two years, she worked as a traveling art teacher. Later, she and Ronnie worked on a large farm in Applecross.
In 1965, they moved to Coll. They bought Crossapol, an old farmhouse. It was three miles from the next house. It had no electricity or running water. They lived there for ten years and raised their two children.
Mairi started using her art skills to earn money. She taught at the local school. She also sold her pictures to tourists. In 1969, she started a printing business. It was called the Malin Workshop. She made postcards and calendars with drawings of wildlife and island maps.
One day, she met a visitor on the beach. This person turned out to be an editor from Macmillan Books. Mairi showed off her watercolors. Soon, she was hired to illustrate books. She illustrated a book by Rumer Godden and three children's books by Jane Duncan.
The Katie Morag Books
The family left Coll in 1973. They moved to Fort William on the mainland. This was so their children could go to secondary school.
After Jane Duncan passed away in 1976, Mairi's editor encouraged her to write her own stories. In 1984, the first "Katie Morag" book was published. It was called Katie Morag Delivers the Mail. Her time on Coll inspired these stories.
The book was very popular. Three more Katie Morag picture books quickly followed.
In 1990, Mairi moved back to Coll. She bought back her old house at Crossapol. In her next Katie Morag book, Katie Morag and the New Pier (1993), she wrote about how the island was changing. It was becoming less isolated.
Four more Katie Morag books were published. However, Mairi found herself becoming a tourist attraction on Coll. After almost ten years, she decided to move again.
She lived in the Scottish Borders for five years. Then she restored cottages on the Black Isle. Neither place felt quite right. So, in 2005, she returned to Coll again. She had a new house built near her daughter and grandchildren. As of 2013, Mairi lives on the mainland in Inverness-shire.
Mairi Hedderwick's Books
Mairi Hedderwick has written and illustrated many books. She is best known for her "Katie Morag" series. There are now fourteen books in this series.
Books for Younger Children
Other books Mairi has written and illustrated include:
- Peedie Peebles Summer or Winter Book (1989): This book is for younger children. It features a lively toddler and is set on Orkney.
- Peedie Peebles Colour Book (1994): This book was later released as Oh No, Peedie Peebles...!
- Dreamy Robbie! (1993), Robbie's First Day at School (1993), Robbie's Trousers (1993), Robbie and Grandpa (1994), Robbie's Birthday (1994): These are short books for young readers.
- The Tale of Carpenter MacPheigh (1994): This is a folk tale.
- A Walk with Grannie (2003)
- The Utterly Otterlys (2006): This story is about a family of otters looking for a new home.
Books Illustrated for Other Authors
Mairi has also illustrated books for many other authors. In the 1970s, she illustrated books by Rumer Godden and Jane Duncan.
In the 1980s, she drew pictures for non-fiction books. She also illustrated children's books in Scottish Gaelic. She worked on four children's books by Moira Miller, including Hamish and the Wee Witch (1986).
In the 1990s, she illustrated Venus Peter Saves the Whale (1992) by Christopher Rush. This book won an award for helping children care for the Earth.
She also illustrated Hands Off Our School! (1992) by Joan Lingard. This novel is about students trying to save their small school. Another book she illustrated was Calum's Big Day (2000) by Tom Pow.
Travel Writing and Stationery
Mairi Hedderwick has written several travel books for adults. These books include her drawings and watercolor sketches. They share her personal feelings and experiences from long journeys in Scotland.
Her travel books include:
- An Eye on the Hebrides: An illustrated journey (1989): This book describes a six-month trip through the Hebrides. She visited forty different islands.
- Highland Journey: A sketching tour of Scotland (1992): In this book, she follows the path of an old Victorian artist.
- Sea Change: The Summer Voyage from East to West Scotland of the Anassa (1999): This book is about a six-week boat trip. She took it when she left Coll in the late 1990s.
- Shetland Rambles: A sketching tour (2011): She retraces another Victorian artist's tour in Shetland.
- The Last Laird of Coll (2011): This book shares her memories of life on Coll and its main landowner.
Since 2005, the Scottish publisher Birlinn has published stationery with Mairi's illustrations. This includes address books, calendars, and diaries. They all feature her sketches of the Scottish Highlands and Hebrides.
Awards and Recognition
In 2003, Stirling University gave Mairi Hedderwick an honorary degree. This was to recognize her "outstanding contribution to writing and illustration in Scotland, especially for children."
She often visits primary schools and book festivals. She leads storytelling sessions and explains how she creates her books. She sometimes brings Katie Morag's teddy bear with her. In 1999, she helped organize the children's author events for the first Wigtown Book Festival.
